Duplicating and conditioning device



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 12, 1962 INVENTOR.

04 f46/A/0W/7'Z (mmnm z I I s 1 I I I K HHIHIUHIllilHlilHliixl1 Nov. 12,1963 s. RABINOWITZ 3,110,134

DUPLICATING AND CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed March 12, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR. $04 P46'M/a W/ r2 BW/%WM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 12,1962 INVENTOR. 5'04 164 a/A a' W/I-Z BY nited rates This inventionrelates to a duplicating and conditioning device for use on reeds suchas are used in musical instruments.

One of the major difficulties in playing musical instruments employingreeds is securing satisfactory reeds of like properties and playingcharacteristics. Reeds are extremely delicate and once damaged must bereplaced. Since there is a wide variation in the material of which reedsare made, and since even a small ditference in the shape of the reedwill result in large difierences in their playing properties, almost notwo reeds are alike. Even reeds taken from the same box will presentsuch different performance properties that very often a musician canonly use two or three reeds out of a box of one or two dozen.

When a reed which is highly satisfactory becomes damaged it is almostimpossible to repair the reed without destroying its playingcharacteristics. In addition, the addition, the forming of a reed fromblank reed material is extremely difficult so that most musicians areforced to purchase finished reeds at :a very substantial cost.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amusical reed duplicating and conditioning device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reed duplicatingdevice which can be used on a large variety of reed sizes and shapes.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a devicewhich will duplicate extremely small surface variations from a modelreed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensivereed duplicating and conditioning device which can be used by relativelyunskilled operators.

An object of the present invention is to provide reeds having the sameplaying characterics as the model reeds I from which they areduplicated.

Another feature of the present invention is its use of a cutting wheeland follower block to duplicate the model reed.

Still another feature of the present invention is its use of anadjusting screw to permit fine cutting adjustments.

The invention consists of the construction, combination and arrangementof parts, as herein illustrated, described and claimed;

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof is illustrated oneform of embodiment of the invention, in which drawings similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a reed conditioning device made inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 in FIGURE 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 4 is a view in front elevation of the device shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary somewhat diagrammatic atent attain viewillustrating the cutting operation of the present invention.

FIGURE 6 is a somewhat isometric view of a finished reed.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fi URES 1, 2 and 4, it?indicates a base having an upstanding back wall '11 secured thereto.Side brackets 12 and 133 at each side of the base it), hold the wall 11upon the base lid. A motor 14 is carried by a bracket 15 bolted to thewall 11. The shaft of the motor '14 extends downwardly as shown inFIGURES 2, 3 and 4, and has a pulley 17 secured thereto. A belt 18 onthe pulley 17 drives a second pulley 19 which is secured to shaft 20.The shaft 2% is journaled within a bearing 21 secured at its bottom tothe base It A cutting wheel 22 is attached to the top of the shaft 29and is disposed parallel to the base it. The cutting wheel may be madeof some suitable abrasive or preferably may be a wooden or metal supportupon which there is stretched a strip of some abrasive material 23, suchas emery cloth, sandpaper or the like. By using a strip of someabsrasive material 23, it is possible to change the cutting surface fromtime to time and to have a cutting wheel which remains the same indiameter at all times.

A follower block 24 is secured at its bottom to the base it? and extendsupwardly therefrom, parallel to but spaced from the shaft 2%. Thefollower block 24 carries a follower tongue 25, which is slidablyreceived within the block 24. An adjusting screw 26 is thread into theback of the follower tongue 25 as shown in FIGURE 1, and permits a veryfine adjustment of the said block. The adjusting sore-w 2-6 is journaledwithin a plate 27 secured to the follower block 24-. Once adjusted thefollower tongue may be locked in placed by means of the screw 23 whichis threada'oly received within the follower block 24.

An elongated rod 29 is journaled within spaced bearing members 3%}secured at each side at the front of the base The rod 29 has securedthereto a plate 31 which is somewhat shorter than the rod 29 so that therod and plate may he slid longitudinally within the bearing members 3d.The plate 31 is held to the rod by means of screws 32 as indicated inFIGURE 1. In addition to the longitudinal motion the rod 29 may also berotated carrying with it the plate 31.

An elongated platform 33 hereinafter referred to as the cutting table,is rotatably secured between spaced hearing members 2-4, carried by theplate 31, at the outer ends thereof. The bearing members 3 support ashaft 35 which is journaled therein and on which the cutting table 33 issecured. The shaft 35 extends beyond the bearing members 34- and isprovided with control knobs 36 by means of which the shaft 35 andcutting table may be rotated, as indicated by the arrows in FIG- URE 1.

When it is desired to operate the reed duplicating and conditioningdevice, a model reed 37 having a form which is suitable and or" knownplaying properties is secured to the cutting table 33, by means of aclamp 33. The model reed 37 is placed upon the cutting table 33 so thatit will be in line with the follower tongue 25. A reed blank 39 fromwhich the model reed is to be duplicated is also secured to the cuttingtable 33 by means of a clamp 33. The model reed 37 and reed blank 39 arespaced apart a distance equal to the distance between the point ofcontact of the reeds upon the cutting wheel 22 and follower tongue 25. Aspacer 43 shown in FIGURE 1 may be used to orient the reeds for thispurpose and thereafter removed during the cutting operation.

Before cutting the blank reed 39 may be shaped in order to give theproper curvature to the front of the blank. In addition, in order tosave the abrasive cutting wheel strip 23, a certain amount of the reedmaterial may be cut away in advance of the final shaping operation.

With the reeds in place as shown in FIGURE 2, the motor is started andthe plate 31 swung upwardly into the position shown in FIGURE 3. Themodel reed 37 Will come. to bear against the face of the follower tongue25 and the blank reed 39 will be brought into contact with the rigidlyrotating cutting wheel 2'2. By grasping the control knobs 36, theoperator can rotate the table 33 and longitudinally slide the plate 51thereby bringing every point on the surface of the model ree 37, intocontact with the follower tongue 25. Correspondingl the blank reed 39will be caused to follow the model reed and since the cutting wheel 22;and follower tongue 25 are equally distant from the cutting table 33.The blank reed 39 will thus be caused to assume the shape of the modelreed 37. in this manner, even extremely small differences in contourwhich cannot be seen with the human eye can be duplicated upon the blankreed. After the blank reed has been shaped as described above, theoperator can remove it from the cutting table 33 and try it in theinstrument. If, because of the material of which the reed is made, it isto stiff the operator can replace it in the duplicating machine andremove more of the reed material merely by adjusting the screw 26 so asto ithdraw the follower tongue 25 into the follower block 24, a fewthousandths of an inch.

It will be apparent that a large number of identical reeds can be madeusing the same model reed and also that the operator has control overthe performance of the reed by compensating for the characteristics ofthe reed material.

In addition, when a reed has become damaged at its edge 41 (see FEGURE6) it is possible to trim the edge with a scissors or razor blade orsuitable clipper device replace the reed in the conditioning machine andrecut a surface 42 thereon in order to produce the finished reed shownin FlGURE If a reed blank is found to be too flerdble because of thenature of the blank material it is also possible to trim the edge 41back a bit, reinsert the reed in the duplicating and conditioning deviceand, by advancing the follower tongue 25, cut a reed which is slightlythicker than the model reed 37 in order to provide additional reedstillness.

It will be seen in FIGURE 1 that the abrasive strip 23 is wrapped aroundthe cutting wheel 22 and wedged into an opening 43 provided therein.Since the motor 14 is preferably a high speed motor a compensatingopening 44 is provided in the wheel 22 to eliminate vibration.

The motion followed by the operator in cutting the reeds is showndiagrammatically in FIGURE where the arrows indicate the longitudinalmotion of the cutting table 33 as the rod 29 slides back and forthbetween the bearing member 30 and the rotating motion of the table asthe control knobs 36 are turned.

In order to prevent damage to the cutting table it is preferred to slipa small shim such as a thickness of some pressure sensitive tapematerial 45 beneath both reeds when they are placed in the device.

The follower tongue 25 is provided with an arcuate face as shown whichconforms in shape to the radius of the cutting wheel 22.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided a reedduplicating and conditioning device which is simple in operation andhigmy accurate in producing reeds of similar characteristics. ofadjustment to compensate for various types of reed material and willalso accommodate a wide variety of reed sizes and shapes. Personsdesiring to make their own reeds can purchase reed blank material at afraction of the cost of finished reeds and be sure of highlysatisfactory results.

Having thus ully described the invention what is claimed as new anddesired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A musical reed duplicating machine comprising a base, a source ofrotary power secured to the base, a cutting wheel driven by the sourceof rotary power, a follower block secured to the base, a follower tongueslidably carried in said follower block, and adjusting screw journaledwithin the follower block and threadably received within the followertongue, a plate swingably secured to the base in front of the cuttingwheel and follower block, an elongated rod to support the plate, spacedbearing members to receive the rod and permit the plate to swing aboutthe longitudinal axis of the rod and the rod to slide therethrough toprovide lateral motion for the plate, a cutting table, a reed cuttingposition for the table, said table being rotatably mounted on theswingable plate, said plate being swingably and transversely slidablewith respect to the said base while in the cutting position, means torotate the cutting table about its longitudinal axis with respect to thecutting wheel and follower tongue, a reed model and reed blank receivingsurface on the table and means to secure the reed blank and model reedto the table receiving surface.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the cutting table rotatingmeans comprises spaced bearing members UNITED STATES PATENTS 164,732Hard June 22, 1875 548,298 Darling Oct. 22, 1395 1,367,378 Segal June24, 1919 l,827,363 Maynard Oct. 13, 1931 2,985,231

Roesch May 23, 1961 The device is capable

1. A MUSICAL REED DUPLICATING MACHINE COMPRISING A BASE, A SOURCE OFROTARY POWER SECURED TO THE BASE, A CUTTING WHEEL DRIVEN BY THE SOURCEOF ROTARY POWER, A FOLLOWER BLOCK SECURED TO THE BASE, A FOLLOWER TONGUESLIDABLY CARRIED IN SAID FOLLOWER BLOCK, AND ADJUSTING SCREW JOURNALEDWITHIN THE FOLLOWER BLOCK AND THREADABLY RECEIVED WITHIN THE FOLLOWERTONGUE, A PLATE SWINGABLY SECURED TO THE BASE IN FRONT OF THE CUTTINGWHEEL AND FOLLOWER BLOCK, AN ELONGATED ROD TO SUPPORT THE PLATE, SPACEDBEARING MEMBERS TO RECEIVE THE ROD AND PERMIT THE PLATE TO SWING ABOUTTHE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE ROD AND THE ROD TO SLIDE THERETHROUGH TOPROVIDE LATERAL MOTION FOR THE PLATE, A CUTTING TABLE, A REED CUTTINGPOSITION FOR THE TABLE, SAID TABLE BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THESWINGABLE PLATE, SAID PLATE BEING SWINGABLY AND TRANSVERSELY SLIDABLEWITH RESPECT TO THE SAID BASE WHILE IN THE CUTTING POSITION, MEANS TOROTATE THE CUTTING TABLE ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS WITH RESPECT TO THECUTTING WHEEL AND FOLLOWER TONGUE, A REED MODEL AND REED BLANK RECEIVINGSURFACE ON THE TABLE AND MEANS TO SECURE THE REED BLANK AND MODEL REEDTO THE TABLE RECEIVING SURFACE.